So the original cat5 cable that was from our basement (modem and router) to my bedroom got damaged somehow last week. My internet is not working . When the first cable was installed, it was installed by folks who really did not know what they were doing. Cables have those horseshoe type nails pinning htem right against the wall, with probably 5 sharp 90 degree turns, parallel to a main electrical cable for the most of it's journey. So I have clearance from my parents to rewire it myself
Now, I was going to put the cable inside PVC pipe because I have 20ft of 3/4" ID pipe already. THis way it will be protected, and it will not be necessary to pin the cable directly. Also, I am choose a more direct route to my bedroom, because it won't be going parallel to beams but will still be protected. There is still a flourescent light in my path, about 1ft away. I understand one should avoid these if at all possible. My question is, will the PVC pipe offer any sort of protection against this? Will it offer any protection against induced current from heavy electrical wire?

So the original cat5 cable that was from our basement (modem and router) to my bedroom got damaged somehow last week. My internet is not working . When the first cable was installed, it was installed by folks who really did not know what they were doing. Cables have those horseshoe type nails pinning htem right against the wall, with probably 5 sharp 90 degree turns, parallel to a main electrical cable for the most of it's journey. So I have clearance from my parents to rewire it myself
Now, I was going to put the cable inside PVC pipe because I have 20ft of 3/4" ID pipe already. THis way it will be protected, and it will not be necessary to pin the cable directly. Also, I am choose a more direct route to my bedroom, because it won't be going parallel to beams but will still be protected. There is still a flourescent light in my path, about 1ft away. I understand one should avoid these if at all possible. My question is, will the PVC pipe offer any sort of protection against this? Will it offer any protection against induced current from heavy electrical wire?

Really, that seems like the path of least resistance. Protects your computer from any surges that end up on the phone line.

Well, these wires are not at all connected to the phone. I already have a cable modem and 4 port wire. So I ran that cable through the PVC, it is not once parallel to an electrical wire. It does pass by one about 4" away, but perpendicular.
Doesn't 802.11b use 2.4ghz? We have two cordless phones that use that frequency as well, I was afraid of interference.

Well, these wires are not at all connected to the phone. I already have a cable modem and 4 port wire. So I ran that cable through the PVC, it is not once parallel to an electrical wire. It does pass by one about 4" away, but perpendicular.
Doesn't 802.11b use 2.4ghz? We have two cordless phones that use that frequency as well, I was afraid of interference.

Ya you might have to wait for 802.11 N to become a finalized standard. It can use 2.4 or 5ghz. Then you will be able to run wireless without fear.

1 foot of spacing is fine, especially over in house distances. Actually, I think 1 foot spacing is in the specification for network wiring. The specification also allows for 100 meter run lengths, and that sort of length just doesn't happen without passing close by something AC.

I've run a lot of cabling through false ceilings, past plenty of fluorescent lights and their associated power conduits, over 75 meters and still had no problem pushing 100 Mbps over it.

By the way, believe it or not, I've found Home Despot to be the best place to buy Cat 5e cable and other home networking products for small jobs like this.

__________________
"The internet is a place where absolutely nothing happens. You need to take advantage of that." ~ Strong Bad

Home depot, that makes sense when you think of it. If I was wiring this whole house, every room with a plug in, I would buy a 1000ft roll of cat5e and the crimp tool. But for what I am doing, I just buy patch cables. All is already done.
So my internet is working (why I am typing now!). The whole cable is nicely protected by PVC, I am going to stick another cat5 in the 20ft PVC as well, to add internet so I can sit on my ass watching TV AND use my laptop simultaneously

nah, cat5e is just fine, unless you do any file transfers through the network between PC somewhat often. Keep in mind a 100mbps network is anywhere from 30 to 100 times faster than the average broadband connection.

Also, 802.11b/g uses 11 channels here in the US. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are so-called non-overlapping channels. Your 2.4 GHz phones shouldn't cause too much of a problem if you experiment with using one of those three channels on your access point. non-overlapping only means that if you stick to those 3 channels with wireless equipment, you won't get bleed-over interference from something using one of the other 2 channels. ap's broadcasting on adjacent channels can interfere a bit. My neighbors have 2.4GHz phones and their cheapo linksys wireless routers work just fine.

I agree cat6 would be serious overkill you will never use its media carrying capacity and the cost is easily double. Back when I installed I did work for a company that wanted all its cables tested to see if they really needed to be replaced or not, they had cat3 installed. I thought well this is ridiculous but hey were getting paid so why not. All the cat3 cables passed cat5 testing at under 75' which was about 50% of the small building they were in. I was amazed to say the least.

I agree cat6 would be serious overkill you will never use its media carrying capacity and the cost is easily double. Back when I installed I did work for a company that wanted all its cables tested to see if they really needed to be replaced or not, they had cat3 installed. I thought well this is ridiculous but hey were getting paid so why not. All the cat3 cables passed cat5 testing at under 75' which was about 50% of the small building they were in. I was amazed to say the least.

I wired my parents' place for ethernet with Cat 3. I got 1000 feet of it for free and I was 16 and didn't know any better. I bought a punchdown tool, put a patch panel in the basement next to the hub, ran all the runs, dad helped me drill holes in the floor, crimped the ends, and it all worked great.

Later, when they went wireless with an actual 100BaseTX switch some 7 years later, I brought home the Fluke tester from work, and my wiring job passed all the test except near-end crosstalk on one run, where I spread the pairs out too far before the crimp. They're still running that original wiring at 100MB for the main network (two desktops, a printer) and wireless everywhere else.

That said, I still wouldn't run unshielded twisted pair parallel to electrical lines, or anywhere near flourescent ballasts! If PC2 is gonna run wires, he should make a jog around the flourescent.